This classic chicken noodle soup is just perfect on cold and rainy days! It is packed with nutritious ingredients, has the best flavor, and is super warming. Plus, it is super simple to make!
Chicken noodle soup is one of the dishes that everyone loves! It is packed with wholesome ingredients, has the most aromatic flavor, and is super warming.
So I figured it was time to share the recipe that I use all the time and that my family absolutely loves! The great thing about this recipe is that you only need a few very simple ingredients to make the most delicious chicken soup.
Plus, making this soup is very quick and easy. It’s just perfect for a healthy and delicious dinner on a cold and rainy day.
Chicken Noodle Soup Ingredients
To make this chicken noodle soup, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Chicken drumsticks: I highly recommend using chicken drumsticks instead of boneless skinless chicken breasts! Cooking the chicken with bones and skin makes the broth so much more flavorful. I tried to make this soup with all kinds of chicken parts and chicken drumsticks are by far the best. Chicken thighs work too but they aren’t as meaty, so I recommend using drumsticks.
- Vegetables: You’ll need yellow onion, yellow potatoes, carrots, celery, and leek to make a super aromatic chicken noodle soup. Please make sure to not skip any of the vegetables as they are very important for the flavor of the broth. Plus, they are packed with nutrients which is an added bonus.
- Chicken or vegetable broth: To make the soup as flavorful as possible, I highly recommend using chicken or vegetable broth (or a combination of both). You can use water too but the soup tastes a lot better if you use broth.
- Bay leaves: Bay leaves are another necessity for making the best chicken noodles soup! They are incredibly aromatic and a must for the flavor of the soup.
- Egg noodles: Egg noodles are perfect for making this soup. If you want to use another type of noodle, feel free to do so.
- Parsley: Parsley is not absolutely necessary but it really adds to the taste of the chicken noodle soup. So I’d recommend chopping some fresh parsley and using it at the end to garnish the soup.
How to make chicken noodle soup
Preparing chicken noodle soup is super simple! Just follow these steps:
- Sauté: Preheat some olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and sauté until it starts to turn translucent. Then add the chicken drumsticks and sauté until they brown.
- Simmer: Now add all vegetables, chicken broth, and bay leaves. Cover the pot, bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and let the soup simmer for 20 minutes.
- Cook the noodles and shred the chicken: Take out the chicken drumsticks and add the noodles. While the noodles cook, separate the meat from the bones and skin. Add the chicken back to the soup. Cook until the noodles are done.
- Garnish and serve: Take out the bay leaves, season with salt and pepper, and garnish with parsley. Enjoy!
Tips & Notes
Here are a few short notes that I recommend reading through before making this recipe at home.
- Always use chicken drumsticks to make chicken noodle soup. As already mentioned, the bones and skin are needed to make the broth taste flavorful. So I’d highly recommend picking drumstick or thighs instead of boneless skinless chicken breasts.
- Don’t omit any of the vegetables. All of the vegetables are needed to make a tasty chicken noodle soup. So be sure to not skip any of them.
- Add more broth if needed. Depending on the noodles you use, you may need to add more broth. Just add more broth when you feel like it’s necessary. It won’t thin the flavor noticeably, so don’t worry about it.
Chicken Noodle Soup Variations
I absolutely love the recipe as is and there really is no need to change anything. But depending on your taste, you could try one of the following variations to switch things up.
- Dried herbs: I personally only use bay leaves as I find them very aromatic while still being mild enough to let all other ingredients shine. But you can definitely add other dried herbs that you love. Dried thyme and dried rosemary would be very delicious additions to this soup!
- Fresh herbs: If you prefer fresh herbs, I highly recommend trying fresh parsley or fresh dill. You can add them directly to the soup before you serve it.
- Lemon: Another delicious option is squeezing in some lemon juice right before serving and adding some fresh lemon zest. It adds a wonderful lemony taste that goes really well with the other ingredients. It actually makes the soup taste very similar to my lemon chicken orzo soup that is a hit whenever I serve it!
- Spicy: If you like a pinch of heat, you could add red pepper flakes to the soup. Whenever I add some lemon juice, I also add red pepper flakes as the acidity and heat of both ingredients make for a very tasty combination.
- Garlic: You could also add fresh garlic with the onions. I personally don’t use garlic as it’s not necessarily needed for the taste. But definitely feel free to use some if you want!
Storage Tips
If you like to prepare a big batch of soup to have some leftovers for the week, I recommend checking out the following tips.
- Save some soup before adding the noodles. If you want to make a few extra servings, save some soup before adding the noodles, and only use the amount of noodles needed for the servings you want to enjoy immediately. As the noodles soak up a lot of liquid and become very mushy, I really don’t recommend storing the soup after adding the noodles. When you reheat the soup on the stove, add the noodles and let them cook with the soup.
- Or use less broth and cook the noodles separately. You could also use less broth when making the soup and cook the noodles in a separate pot. You can then place the noodles in the serving bowls and add the soup. I personally love to cook the noodles in the broth as they are more flavorful that way. But both methods work great!
- Freeze the soup without noodles. You can freeze the soup in a freezer-safe container. Just be sure that you don’t freeze the noodles. They turn very mushy when they are reheated.
- Add more liquid when reheating the soup. You’ll probably have to add more liquid (either broth or water) when reheating the soup. It won’t affect the flavor too much, so please add as much extra liquid as you need (it won’t be a lot anyways).
Frequently Asked Questions
If you want to save some time, you can use rotisserie chicken. But I’d recommend sticking with chicken drumsticks and chicken thighs that are cooked in the broth. The soup will be a lot more delicious this way!
I would only recommend using skinless boneless chicken breasts if you don’t have access to bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks.
If you want this soup to be gluten-free, be sure to use gluten-free noodles and broth. The other ingredients are naturally gluten-free.
Please check out the section „storage tips“ of this post for more detailed information on how to best store homemade chicken noodle soup.
More delicious and flavorful soup recipes
If you are looking for more simple and delicious soup recipes that you can try out this year, I recommend checking out the following posts!
- German Potato Soup
- Potato Lentil Soup
- Creamy Carrot Potato Soup
- White Bean and Kale Soup
- Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 1 ½ pound chicken drumsticks
- 3 carrots peeled and sliced
- ½ pound potatoes peeled and diced
- 3 celery stalks diced
- ½ leek cut in half, sliced
- 8 cups chicken or vegetable broth more if needed
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 ounces egg noodles
- salt and pepper
- chopped parsley
Instructions
- First, preheat some olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Then sauté the diced onion until it starts to turn translucent. Add the chicken drumsticks and sauté until they start to brown.1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 yellow onion, 1 ½ pound chicken drumsticks
- Next, add all vegetables, chicken broth, and bay leaves to the same pot. Cover the pot and bring the soup to a boil. Then lower the heat and let the soup simmer for 20 minutes.3 carrots, ½ pound potatoes, 3 celery stalks, ½ leek, 8 cups chicken or vegetable broth, 2 bay leaves
- Now take out the chicken drumsticks and add the noodles. While the noodles cook, separate the meat from bones and skin. Then shred the meat. Let the noodles cook according to package instructions.5 ounces egg noodles
- Add the shredded chicken back. Take out the bay leaves. Season the soup with salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley and enjoy!salt and pepper, chopped parsley
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